Essex Bayou Habitat Restoration Engineering
Implementing Organization
State of Texas; US Department of the Interior
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$372,000
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)
Funding Program
Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA
Details
Project Category
Environmental
Project Actions
Habitat Restoration and Enhancement
Targeted Resources
Wetlands/Marshes/Estuaries
Project Description
This project includes the engineering and design (E&D) necessary to restore and conserve coastal and nearshore habitats in Essex Bayou, Texas. The E&D is necessary to understand the factors that contribute to high salinities within Essex Bayou and the Slop Bowl Marsh system and develop solutions that will create a more stable estuarine system. At the initiation of the project, the Texas Trustee Implementation Group (TX TIG) chose to implement the project into two phases. Phase I supported field and desktop investigations to determine how changing geological features affect hydrology such as freshwater inputs and tidal exchange rates, which in turn impacts marsh habitats. The field portion of the study included collecting elevational survey data and deploying water level, salinity, and flow measuring recorders. Subsidence and marsh accretion rates were determined with data collected from shallow cores and seismic sampling equipment to assess subsurface geology. Field data was synchronized with additional light detection and ranging (LiDAR) elevation imagery to construct a hydrologic model that can be used to predict conditions in the marsh system beyond the data collection period. The model then used the data to interpret future conditions incorporating projected changes in subsidence and sea level rise. The data was summarized to identify how salinities could be stabilized to enhance conditions for wetland habitat, fisheries, and avian resources. The report from Phase I will be used by the Trustees to implement Phase II of the project, which includes the development of engineering plans for potential solutions to stabilize marsh...click on "More Info" link below
Contact
Luke Anthis(251) 517-8002
luke_anthis@fws.gov
Project Website
None
For official trustee information regarding the Deepwater Horizon NRDA, including information regarding the NRDA process and the status of projects, see https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/